Quare Lacrymae

The Josias has posted a translation of, and brief commentary on, Pope Pius VI’s speech, Qaure Lacrymae, which was delivered in response to the regicide of King Louis XVI of France. From the introductory note by Pater Edmund Waldstein:

Quare Lacrymae is mainly concerned with showing that King Louis XVI’s death was a martyrdom. Pius VI can appeal to Louis XVI’s moving last will and testament, but in order to prove the point he has to show that the cause of his death was odium fidei. In order to prove this, Pope Pius argues that the main thrust of the revolution was against the Catholic religion. In the course of his argument he makes a bold claim about the connection between Calvinism and Enlightenment philosophy—anticipating in certain respects recent arguments by the likes of Brad Gregory.